


House Spirit

by HedwigHufflepuff



Category: Hilda (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Missing Scene, Tontu is Trying His Best
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:14:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29576646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HedwigHufflepuff/pseuds/HedwigHufflepuff
Summary: Just as nisse need a home, a home needs a nisse.Tontu settles into the rhythm of his new home. He’s as surprised as anyone when his new family start coming to him for company.CHAPTER ONE: Homecoming
Relationships: Tontu & Hilda
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20





	House Spirit

Three days after moving in, Tontu found himself rummaging under Hilda’s bed for something to do.

He’d fixed up the Nowhere Space as best as he could, and the piles of clutter had been reduced to two modest stacks. The rest had been sorted, ready to be returned or disposed of according to Hilda. It was dusty. If he weren’t a Nisse, he would be sneezing. Did they ever vacuum down here? Probably not, considering that this was one of the largest Nowhere Space entrances in the entire house. 

… There were two pairs of glowing eyes in the far corner.

Tontu grabbed the closest book and _noped_ out of there. That was Hilda’s problem.

The book was heavier than expected. He brushed off the dust and found it was ‘ _Elf Organisational Structure: An Overview_ ’. So, Elves. The first thing Hilda had done once Johanna had given him permission to stay was to sit him down in front of a deceptively small stack of papers. The Elf had appeared on his nose, and he was still slightly miffed. If anything else, the book might help him understand what the role of an Elf was. There hadn’t been any around in his old house, or none that had wanted to be seen.

He settled into the armchair. It was quite novel to have an entire piece of furniture in the Nowhere Space, and he intended to make use of it as much as possible. The book was, regrettably, in fine print, but he could manage. Besides, he wasn’t quite bold enough to borrow the more interesting books straight off the shelves. 

Somewhere above the ceiling, the tromp of Hilda’s boots signalled her return home.

Tontu returned to the book. It seemed Elves weren’t house-dwelling creatures like Nisse— they had their own society and cities. Clearly, the one living here was an exception, so the book was no help in figuring him out. 

_Knock-knock-knock!_

The noise echoed through the Nowhere Space strangely, and it took Tontu a minute to realise it was coming from the bottom-right wall. He stuck his head out and nearly fell back in because Hilda was _right there_ in his face. 

“Tontu! I haven’t seen you in a while!” Hilda exclaimed, even though she’d bothered him just yesterday afternoon. 

He shrugged. “Fixed the place up more. There’s a pile of lost homework that has your name on it.”

She threw her hands in the air. “I told Ms Halgrim that the sofa ate it! Trolls and black hounds, sure, but nobody ever suspects the sofa.”

He crossed his arms in amusement. “I found most of it under your bed.”

Hilda’s rant tapered off and she hastily moved on. “I thought it’d be nice if you ate dinner with us. You haven’t had a chance to meet Mum properly.”

“We exchanged names during the Hound fiasco,” Tontu deadpanned, then did a double-take. Incredulously, he asked, “With… the family?” 

She didn’t seem to see the significance. Hilda continued, “There’s pot pie, which you must try, Mum’s cooking is the best. Besides, Alfur’s been awfully distressed about being ‘rude and improper’ last time, and he wanted to apologise in person. Though I don’t see what the problem is, it was only a little surprise…”

The stream of words didn’t register with Tontu. After all, she had just invited him— _a nisse_ — to eat with the house-owners, like it was an ordinary Tuesday! Most people never even met their nisse, and the last time it happened to him was. Well. 

“And Alfur couldn’t just knock on the drawer, seeing as the sound would be too tiny. Unless the sound is amplified in the Nowhere Space? Wait, how loud was my knocking?”

A Nisse at a dinner table! He was blushing at the very thought.

“Anyway, you have to come!” she finished, having finally noticed Tontu’s silence. 

His brain stuttered. “Not hungry, but you’re welcome. I mean-- you’re thanks. Thank you!” And he fled back into Nowhere Space, or he would’ve if Hilda hadn’t grabbed his hand.

She looked surprised, but it quickly melted into reassurance. “Tontu… you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I just thought it’d be nice.”

Admittedly, it did sound nice. Getting to know Hilda, and Johanna, and the Elf, who were all so interesting to watch and probably even better to talk to. But he sighed, knowing it wasn’t possible. “Hilda, you don’t understand. House spirits aren’t meant to be seen. It only leads to trouble.”

Hilda scowled, the expression startling on her kind face. “Of course it won’t! Don’t talk like that. You’re a house spirit, so this house should be your home too.”

He’d never heard it put like that. Nisse were at best shadows and at worst pests mooching off their house owners’ food and shelter. It felt strange and confronting to be addressed so directly. 

She got down on her knees and lowered herself to Tontu’s level. “Trust me. I won’t let you be kicked out again.”

And that was the heart of the matter, wasn’t it? If everyone forgot about him, he could live peacefully and undisturbed and safe. Going out there would make him memorable. It would draw attention.

But he had a friend here.

So he took her hand, and remarked (casually, he hoped), “The food better be worth it.”

Her answering grin was already worth it, but he didn’t tell her that.

When he sat down and saw _actual silverware_ in front of him, he thought ‘Gee, why would you trust a Nisse with that?’ and the answer was the blue-haired girl across the table. When he froze because there was freshly-cooked hot food she, knowingly or unknowingly, alleviated his discomfort by loudly proclaiming how tasty it was. When the silences grew long and he fretted that it was his fault she would begin recounting a recent adventure.

And when his plate was cleared, and Johanna asked ‘You want seconds?’, he began to think, _this might be home after all_.

**Author's Note:**

> And so begins a collection of missing scenes from S1 finale onwards, all Tontu-centric! Not sure how often I'll update this, but there's more to come.


End file.
